| Kazue Sawai One of the biggest names in the Japanese koto world is coming to town in September. Madame Kazue Sawai will perform in a one-time only concert at the Old First Concerts on Tuesday, September 26 in San Francisco. Kazue Sawai comes from the traditional world of koto, learning from a young age. Her teacher was the renown artist Michio Miyagi, himself an innovator of the koto, and creator of the 17-stringed bass koto. Kazue is now known as Japan’s most outstanding bass koto player. Because of its image as “the national instrument of Japan”, the Japanese koto has carried with it an image of elitism and exclusivity, only to be taught in private lessons and not in public school. Coupled with Japan’s obsession with Western culture, Japanese traditional arts are slowly dying, including the ancient art of the koto. Kazue Sawai wants everyone to fall in love with the koto. She would like people to be able to hear it just as they would any other art in their daily lives. That’s why Kazue often performs in places where koto is not likely to be found: in bars at the Roppongi, beer gardens and jazz festivals. Her versatility takes her from playing conventional koto classics in her shimmering white kimono to avant garde improvisations in her black leather boots. Kazue feels the koto lends itself to individual expression, from revealing the most subtle of sounds, to exploding into an all encompassing crash of resonance. The Japanese spend too much time worrying about what is the right way or the wrong way of playing, when we should think about how to express our individual selves, through music, says Kazue. And the music should always be changing, just as we feel differently from day to day. “If someone were to ask me who I thought was one of the top koto musicians today, I would have to say Kazue Sawai”, says Shirley Muramoto, koto teacher and musician based in the San Francisco Bay Area, and director of the world jazz fusion group, the Murasaki Ensemble. “Kazue is not a teacher of my koto school, but she is an amazing and mesmerizing performer. About five years ago, I encouraged my son, Brian, also an aspiring koto musician, that he should accompany me to hear Kazue Sawai in concert the first time she performed in San Francisco, that she is one of the top koto musicians in the world. Brian was skeptical, but after he heard and experienced Kazue’s performance, he was hooked! His interest for koto went to a higher level after that concert. So inspired, Brian has been studying koto with Kazue Sawai ever since. This year, he achieved his "Koshi" instructor's degree from the Sawai Soukyokuin in Tokyo, with the highest scores. Kazue is not only a consummate performer, able to play anything from the classical to new styles, but she inspires others to listen and study the art of koto. If you are interested in koto past, present and future, this is the concert to see.” Kazue has received criticism for her forward thinking and commitment to musical diversity inside and outside of Japan, but feels that it is necessary to think of music as something relevant to contemporary society and to life around us. That if the music will speak to her, she can speak to others through her music. Wherever she performs, she redefines the traditional image of koto. She spreads her message all around the world. In the last several years, she has played at the Moers Jazz Festival in Germany, at new music and jazz festivals in Canada and New York, and in France, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, and Poland. Kazue Sawai is the embodiment of the new world of koto, and taking it to new heights. O1C Performances: Kazue Sawai |
